Gary Numan, “I Die, You Die”
Chris Bug: We're both big Gary Numan fans, and we tried to bring more Numan-style synths into The Horror. Numan is the master of layering sci-fi synths and burying them in the background in just right the place.
Nitzer Ebb, “Let Your Body Learn”
Chris Bug: I tried to channel some of Douglas McCarthy's vocal style for The Horror. Nitzer Ebb's vocals are so off kilter and choppy but with the right bass line, it forms a kind of throbbing pulse that suddenly turns into a really heavy song.
Cop Shoot Cop, “Shine on Elizabeth”
Chris Bug: This song is so brutal. Cop Shoot Cop really knew how to write a bass line.
Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Green River”
Ivan Lip: When we began writing for The Horror the first thing that we said was that we were sick of writing about cities. We were on tour a bunch in 2010 and 2011, and Chris and I always bring Creedence in the van with us. I love the line in “Green River” where the guy tells the kid who's leaving town that he's going to find the world smouldering. It definitely was a gateway line to help me figure out the sort of apocalyptic vibe we were going after on our record.
Chrome, “Armageddon”
Ivan Lip: Third from the Sun is my favorite Chrome record. It's pretty creepy.
Butthole Surfers, “Cherub”
Ivan Lip: I kind of hear some of the ideas on this song and the Chrome song on our record. We ended up writing longer songs that had more layers, and spent more time with pedals, synths, vocoders, a power drill, etc.
